Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan Purchases 650 Shares of Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $233.01 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.50. The firm has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $233.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.88.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.